U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), author of the nation’s first anti-trafficking law and its two subsequent reauthorizations, today called the House Foreign Affairs Committee passage of the 2007 reauthorization of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386) “another step forward in our commitment to end this appalling form of modern-day slavery.”

    “The United States has taken the lead in protecting victims of trafficking, who are primarily young women and children. This bill will mark the third reauthorization of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and will help the US expand our leadership role in the global effort to free the victims and punish the pimps and thugs who put them into bondage,” Smith said.

    Smith is the lead Republican cosponsor of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007 (H.R. 3887) which was introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA). On top of reauthorizing funds for U.S. anti-trafficking initiatives, the legislation increases assistance to victims of trafficking in other countries; tightens actions against governments failing to meet minimum standards; and enhances protections for child victims of trafficking.

    “Since enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the traffickers here and abroad are increasingly likely to face prosecution and conviction. According to the Department of Justice, domestic prosecutions for trafficking have increased by more than 300% under this legislation. Worldwide, nearly 6,000 traffickers were prosecuted last year, and more than 3,000 were convicted,” Smith said. “With each reauthorization—including this one—we have sought to enhance and strengthen our domestic and international response to the horrific crime of human trafficking.”

    Among the highlights of the new reauthorization is a provision that aims to correct what Smith has called a “creeping complacency” on the part of the State Department to let offending countries avoid sanctions by leaving them on the Tier 2 Watch List for multiple consecutive years instead of identifying them as egregious Tier 3 offenders.

    “This provision reflects the original congressional intent that the watch list serve as an impetus to countries that are not complying with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking to commit the political will and resources necessary to seriously address this human rights abuse,” Smith said.

    Other key provisions in H.R. 3887 are:

• A requirement that a comprehensive analysis of trafficking data to yield new information about where victims are going and how to free them is undertaken;
• An expansion of the T-Visa program to protect not only victims, but their families and witnesses for trafficking investigations;
• Authorization for the Department of Health and Human Services to provide interim assistance to child victims of trafficking for up to 120 days;
• Strengthening of criminal and civil actions against traffickers, including the creation of a new crime that punishes individuals that go abroad for sexual tourism; and
• A prohibition of U.S. military assistance to governments that have armed forces or government supported armed forces, including paramilitaries, militias or civil defense forces that recruit or use child soldiers.